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Richie Ginther

Racers and fans remember Richie Ginther’s small physique, his winning smile and his multitude of freckles. His improbable racing journey took him from wrenching cars in Los Angeles to the glamorous European Grand Prix circuit.

Richie was a hot rodder when he met road racer Phil Hill in the early 1950s. Ginther helped Phil prepare his cars and raced twice himself in an MG with a Ford V-8 60 engine, finishing third at Pebble Beach in 1951. He then spent two years in Korea as a helicopter mechanic.

After his return, Phil was driving for John von Neumann and Richie continued to help with Phil’s car preparation after his day job. Richie raced an Austin Healey in 1955, but then, his free labor was rewarded with employment and drives in von Neumann’s Porsches and Ferraris.

By the late 1950s, Ginther was winning races in Ferraris like the inaugural at Riverside in 1957 and the 1959 Kiwanis Grand Prix at the same track. The factory took notice when Ginther won the GT class at Sebring in 1959 and he joined the Ferrari team as a Grand Prix driver in 1960, finishing his season with a 2nd in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

When Ferrari was testing their first rear-engine sports car in 1961 at Monza, the new car had handling problems. Ginther’s aircraft experience led to a suggestion that a strip of metal be welded across the bodywork at the rear of the car. The fix worked, and the concept of the spoiler had its first application on a race car.

That same year, Richie set fastest lap at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix and finished second to Stirling Moss in what many regard as Moss’s greatest race. In 1962, Richie moved to BRM, where he finished second in the World Championship. During the 60s he was involved in the development stages of both the Rover-BRM turbine effort at Le Mans and the earliest days of the Ford GT 40 program.

By 1965 Richie was at Honda where made history when he won the Mexican Grand Prix. It was the first GP victory for Ginther, Honda and Goodyear.

After another year at Honda, Richie joined Dan Gurney’s Eagle team, finishing second to Dan at Brands Hatch. After a failed qualifying attempt at the Indianapolis 500, Richie lay in his bed at the Speedway Motel and decided racing wasn’t fun any more.

He continued to be involved, running successful teams for Porsche and Toyota in U.S. production car racing and entered a 911 in Le Mans in 1971.

After his retirement he lived in Rosarito Beach Mexico, where he and his wife, Cleo often entertained old racing friends like John von Neumann, Yoshio Nakamura, Honda’s racing boss from Richie’s time and Paco Bulto, maker of Bultaco motorcycles. Richie was an avid off-road rider. Another frequent visitor was Richie’s son, Brett, who is an M.D.

Richie died suddenly in France while visiting Cleo’s family in 1989. They had just come from England, where they had attended a BRM team reunion. Contemporaries remember him as very quick and a master development engineer. He was one of the pioneers in U.S. sports car racing and was in the second wave of Americans to take on the Europeans on their own tracks.

Paul Goldsmith

When reference is made to Paul Goldsmith winning an event at Milwaukee, Langhorne or over the sands of Daytona Beach, one has to specify whether the type of motor sport being discussed involves four wheels or two. Typically, a person will be inducted into the Hall of Fame because of his or her accomplishments in one discipline or the other. In the case of the extremely stoic Goldsmith - a man of VERY few words - it could be either.

Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the Michigan-raised Goldsmith began racing motorcycles as a teenager right after the conclusion of WWII. He jumped immediately to the rank of AMA "expert" on Harley–Davidson equipment and raced for the next several years while continuing to hold down a full-time factory job at Chrysler. His first major win, in 1952, came most fortuitously on the one-mile dirt track at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds (later the famed Milwaukee Mile), not far from the Harley–Davidson headquarters.

In 1953, he won both the Daytona 200 on the old beach road course (his Harley prepared partially by the legendary Smokey Yunick), and the grueling 100-miler at the treacherous Langhorne, Pennsylvania, dirt track.

From its very beginnings, AMA had typically declared a variety of seasonal champions based on single events, even its national championship being awarded to the winner of the Springfield, Illinois, race. Finally, in 1954, it was decided to award points to the first few finishers in a series of races, and it was Goldsmith who ended up second in the standings, beaten only by a West Coast rider he had befriended and taken under his wing several years earlier, Joe Leonard.

In the meantime, Goldsmith had begun to dabble in stock car racing, winning a 250-miler at the Detroit Fairgrounds in 1953. Later teaming with Yunick, he won his first NASCAR race (a 300-miler at Langhorne) in 1956, and in February 1958, with construction of the Daytona International Speedway already underway, he won the final NASCAR Grand National classic over the beach course.

In May of 1958, he achieved a lifelong ambition by driving in the Indianapolis 500, although his race lasted only three-quarters of a lap. Driving a Yunick-entered Offenhauser-powered Kurtis–Kraft, he was caught up in the multi-car accident which took the life of Pat O'Connor. Goldsmith drove in five more 500s after that, placing fifth in 1959 and third in 1960. In fact, his race laps were only a fraction of the number he turned at IMS during his career inasmuch as he had succeeded Rodger Ward and the late O'Connor as Firestone's chief test driver.

Teamed up since 1959 with Ray Nichels, Goldsmith was to virtually dominate the USAC stock car circuit with Nichels Engineering Pontiacs, finishing second in points in 1960, winning in 1961 and 1962, and, after a dispute with USAC, finishing second again, this time with a Plymouth, in 1965. During his pair of championship-winning seasons he won almost half of the races, with 18 wins in 39 starts.

Paul was back and forth with NASCAR for several seasons and normally ran only selected races. In 1966, however, he did finish 5th in points with three wins and three seconds. In 1969 he retired to devote full time to his varied business ventures, which were to include ownership of an airport in northern Indiana, an aviation engine repair business, some fast food restaurants (since sold) and a pair of thoroughbred horse ranches (also since sold). Never having slowed down, he currently has a contract to train commercial pilots for the Shanghai-based Eastern Airlines concern, and is working with Purdue University on the development of a fuel-saving hydraulic intensifier.

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

Welcome to the MSHFA Newsletter

In conjunction with the launch of the all-new www.mshf.com, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America welcomes you to our inaugural newsletter. We hope you will continue to support the Hall of Fame in its mission to preserve values of leadership, innovation, teamwork and competition embodied in American motorsports. Newsletters will be providing infomation on our Induction Ceremony, Inductees and other events. If you wish to unsubscribe and not receive another newsletter from MSHFA, please see the link at the bottom of the page.

Bernstein, Hobbs, Parker, Richter, Unser Jr., Wheeler and Weatherly to be inducted into MSHFA

2009 MSHFA Inductee Kenny BernsteinNOVI, MI – Racing legends Kenny Bernstein, David Hobbs, Scott Parker, Les Richter, Al Unser, Jr., H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler and Joe Weatherly will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America when the organization stages its annual induction ceremony on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at the Fillmore Theater in Detroit.

"Innovation and competitive spirit are hallmarks of the class of 2009," says Hall of Fame president Ron Watson. "These men have exemplified leadership and teamwork both on the track and in the front office."

Kenny Bernstein became the King of Speed in 1992 when he was the first NHRA driver to break the 300 MPH barrier. He is a four-time NHRA Funny Car champion and an IHRA World Funny Car titlist. Read more>>

Induction Sponsorships Available

horsepower trophyEach year, the biggest corporate names in racing pledge their sponsorships in honor of the inductees and in commemoration of their own automotive heritage. Clearly, it is financial assistance from our distinguished sponsors that enable our Induction Ceremonies to continue to be all that they should be.

Stunning sculptures of our inductees are currently on display in the Hall of Fame. Each inductee, or his family, also receives an original bronze statuette titled "Horsepower" as a memento of his enshrinement. Your participation as an Induction sponsor will contribute to the honor so richly deserved by all the inductees on the evening of the ceremony. Read more>>

On Display: The Henry J

Henry JJames Brooks founded JEB Four Racing along with sons Jeff, Jamie and John. They first introduced their unique Henry J dragster to the NHRA/IHRA circuit and the Super Gas class in 1993. This one of a kind car was based on the 1951 "Red Baron" that James took down the track in the 1960's.

While the 90's version had a professionally built, tube chassis with a fiber glass body by Bernard Weaver, it also included an actual Henry J roof to add authenticity. But it was a rough start, and JEB Four Racing rolled the original car in the first season. While searching for a replacement roof, the team discovered their father's Red Baron in a junkyard. With the help of Smith's Body Shop in Fredericksburg, Virginia the car was recreated... and a brand new chapter opened for the team.

JEB Four signed their first major sponsorship deal with Kaeser Compressors in 1995. Over the next decade, the team had won the Divisional Races at both Englishtown and Delaware. Read more>>